Why Couldn’t Mary Touch Jesus After He Rose From the Grave?

Jesus told Mary not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to heaven to present His blood on the Mercy Seat. He was our High Priest, and His priestly work was not finished. The high priest in Israel carried the blood of the sacrifice into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat. Jesus had to carry His own blood into the true Holy of Holies in heaven.

Mary in the Garden

Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found it empty. John records what happened next:

"But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:11-17)

Mary had followed Jesus, served Him, and stood near the cross when He died. Now she saw Him alive. Her first response was to reach for Him. Jesus stopped her, and He gave the reason in the same sentence: “for I am not yet ascended to my Father.”

The Mercy Seat in the Wilderness

God told Moses to build an ark of acacia wood covered in gold. On top of it sat a lid of pure gold with two cherubim facing each other. That lid was the Mercy Seat. God said, “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat” (Exodus 25:22).

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies alone. He took the blood of a bullock and a goat and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat and before it seven times (Leviticus 16:14-15). That blood covered the sins of the people for another year.

Moses Copied the Tabernacle in Heaven

The tabernacle was not Moses’ design. God showed him a pattern and told him to copy it exactly:

“According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” (Exodus 25:9)

“And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.” (Exodus 25:40)

The book of Hebrews explains what that pattern was. The earthly priests served in a copy of a heavenly original:

“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” (Hebrews 8:5)

The Ark, the Mercy Seat, and the Holy of Holies on earth were copies. The real ones are in heaven.

Jesus Carried His Own Blood Into Heaven

Hebrews 9 tells us what Jesus did with His blood:

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Hebrews 9:11-12)

“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24)

This is why Mary could not touch Him. Jesus was in the middle of His work as High Priest. The high priest on the Day of Atonement did not stop to greet people while he carried the blood into the Holy of Holies. Jesus had risen, but He had not yet presented His blood before the Father. Hebrews 9:23 says the heavenly things themselves had to be purified “with better sacrifices than these.” Jesus is that better sacrifice.

What About Thomas and the Other Women?

You may ask why Jesus later told Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands” (John 20:27). That happened eight days later. By then Jesus had gone to the Father and returned. His work at the Mercy Seat was done, and nothing kept Thomas from touching Him.

Matthew 28:9 says other women held Jesus by the feet on resurrection morning. Mark 16:9 tells us Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. On this reading, Jesus ascended to the Father after He spoke to Mary and before He met the other women.

Some Bible teachers read John 20:17 differently. They point out that the Greek can mean “stop clinging to me,” and they take Jesus to mean Mary did not need to hold on to Him because He was not leaving yet. You can weigh both readings. The Mercy Seat reading explains why Jesus gave His ascension as the reason.

How God Sees You Now

When God looks at a believer, He sees that person through the blood of Jesus on the Mercy Seat in heaven. The blood of bulls and goats had to be offered every year. Christ’s blood was offered once, and it never has to be offered again. “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

If you have trusted Christ, your sins are forgiven. Your standing with God does not rest on how you felt this morning or how well you did this week. It rests on blood that has already been placed before the Father. Read Hebrews 9 and 10 this week, and ask God to show you what Jesus finished for you.

About the Author

CK Quarterman is a USAF veteran, independent author, and publisher at CKQbooks. He writes the Malaterrestrials nonfiction series, which examines evil earthbound non-human intelligences through Scripture and history, along with the Watchers’ Universe and Sons of the Flood fiction series. Find his books at ckqbooks.com.

Truth · History · Scripture